To Follow is to Serve

“Jesus said to them, ‘The chalice that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.’”

Mark 10:39-40

The brothers James and John asked Jesus for a favor — to sit on His right and left in glory. This request came right after Jesus shared with them for the third time what He would come to suffer in Jerusalem. Although this request shows that they really did not understand Jesus’ mission and what He is all about, it does show us something. James and John believed in Jesus. They believed that He was the Messiah and that He could do anything. They had faith in Jesus, but they wanted something more — they wanted power and glory.

Jesus explained to them that to sit on His right or left is not for Him to decide, but rather prepared for by His Father. Perhaps James and John believed that Jesus is the Messiah, but the kind of Messiah that the Jewish people were expecting — a military leader who would free them from Roman rule, and so they wanted to be on His right and left, sharing in His glory. Little did they know that those who would be on Jesus’ right and left would be two thieves, and they would all be hanging on a cross. But, James and John would later share in Jesus’ glory — in their witness to the Gospel and their martyrdom, they indeed shared the glory of Jesus.

As disciples, we are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and that is not to seek places of glory and fame but rather to seek to serve, especially those who are most in need. We share in Christ’s glory when we encounter the poor, the sick, the elderly, the outcast, and the unwanted. St Philip Neri showed this with his life and his commitment and outreach to the poor on the street corners of Rome. He served the poor and the those he came to encounter by day and he recharged and spent his time with the Lord in prayer by night. He once said, “The greatness of our love of God must be tested by the desire we have of suffering for His love.” May we imitate St. Philip Neri’s love for Christ and His poor. When our hearts are so intertwined with that of Jesus, we will see Him in those whom we come to serve, and when we do, how can we but not rejoice and truly rest and share in His glory.